Concrete-distributing apparatus



A. P. ROBINSON CONCRETE DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS Feb. 17, 1931.

Filed Aug. 22, 1927 l2 5 H I H yo '4- 4- 10 7 a Z a g" 0 Z, a

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5TUP HERE nvemtoz Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED-STATES] PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR r. Ron Nson,- or PLAINFIELD, new JnRsnY, isssiononfro nANsoM'E CON- crm'rn MAcH NEnYcoMrAn or PLAINFIELD, .NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY ooncnnrn-nrsrmnurrne ,Arr Annr s Application filed A ugust 22, 1327. Serial No. 214,537.

The improvements relate to apparatus for distributing concrete and other materials by gravity, in which'the materials a'reelevated on a mast or tower and then deposited in chutes or other conduits to be distributed laterally therefrom by gravity, and their primary object is to provide what is called a moment balancing boom plant of this character in which the necessity for the use of guy ropes extending in 'diiferent directions to support the tower in vertical position are dispensed with and the tower and booms supporting the distributing chutes are constructed and arranged to be supported entirely on a relatively small base, which may be mounted on trucks or otherwise movabl mounted. V

Other objects and advantages of the improvements will appear from the following description.

The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a balanced V boom plant embodying said improvements;

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the plan upon which the. apparatus is constructed and operated; and

Fig. 3is an enlarged front elevation of a portion of the mast illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the apparatus shown in the drawings, as an example of the embodiment of the improvements, the trussed steel tower 1 is mounted on a platform 2 by means of a suitable base 3 on which it may be turned, with the parts supported thereby, to a position at right angles to the position shown, and se cured in such position. An equivalent of this arrangement for changing the position of the tower is the mounting of the base on the platform for rotation or the mounting of the platform on its trucks for similar movement, the last mentioned arrangement being a convenient one as it avoids the necessity of disconnecting the tower brace legs and guys. As shown, the tower is secured to the base by means of bolts 4 passing through the upright sides of the base and the bottom rectangular frame 5 of the tower structure.

The truck platform 2 is suitably mounted on fiang'ed'wlieels ,G'runnin'g on a track 7 so that the entire plant may be moved along said track to any point accessible thereby. This provision is very useful for the building of concrete railroad embankments and other walls, for docks and piers and other extendedconstructions, but it will be seen that greater mobility may be given to the plant by mounting it on a caterpillar tractor or similar traction device which is capable of traveling in various directions.

he brace legs 8 are secured at their upper endsv to the tower 1 by means of bolts 9 or other suitable fastenings, and to the platform 2: by means of bolts 10 passing through the studs 11" fixed to platform, which it will be seen, may be an ordinary fiat car common- 1y used on railroads. By meansofeyes 12 fixed to the studs 11 the guy rope or cable 14 is secured. This runs over theouter end of the balancingboom 15, through a sheave 13 on the outer 'end thereof, over which the said cable passes to and through the eye 16at the top of the tower and over to the securing device 17 at the outer end of the chute car-' that it may be moved to difi'erent positions in.

the height of the tower to-give different elevations for the distributin apparatus. A winch may also be located at the end of the boom 18 for taking in or letting out the cableli a The boom 18 suspends the counterbalanced chute frame 20 at its'outer end by means of-a bail 21, and this chute frame carries the chute 22 receiving materials through its hopper head 23 from thetrussedchute 24 having its upper end supported on the tower by means of its hopper 25 to receive materials elevated in the tower, and its outer lower end supportfront face, so that the booms will be free to swing outwardlyto any desired extent, and inwardly 12 or more from a position parallel with the front face of the tower. (Figure 2-). The are of movement, however, is necessarily limited by the counterbalanced feature, as the normal position of the two booms is in alinement and a departure of more than 30 from this position will so affect the balance that it is not advisable. Any suitable means may be employed, however, if desired to prevent overbalancing in this manner. The legs 8 may also be made longer or replaced. by longer legs and used to serve the purpose of guy ropes, as they are constructed to withstand tension as well as compression.

YVhen used as a moment balancing boom plant an ordinary tackle may be employed to apply a load at the end of the balancing boom to wholly or partly equalize the load. of the chutes and connected parts and the materials chuted, on the other boom.

For a boom plant swung sidewise,,particularly a portable plant, this construction has the clear advantage of balancing the loads on the tower until they become largely vertical loads, thus avoiding the use of the usual guy ropes or cables, making the plant more readily moved and also decreasing the loads on the rigid legs. here the boom plant must swing out in front of the tower in addition to being swung sidewise, careful attention must be given to the limiting conditions noted. By reference to the diagram, it will be seen that the moment balancing boom may be used until the angles A and B are both 30. At this angle the thrust back against the tower from the balanced plant is theoretically equal to that obtained from the usual boom when standing straight out from the tower, but when this angle is exceeded the moment'balancer should not be depended upon. From inspection of'the diagram it will be seen that the moment balance is effective only when the boom plant is swung sidewise, and that by balancing the sidewise moment the front and rear moment are doubled until, at an angle of 30, the advantages have become Zero. At zero angle. the moment is theoretically 100% balanced and" for small angles up to say 12 this holds true because the balancing boom may be swung back that amount, as shown in the diagram.

I claim In a device of thecha-ract'er described, a vertical supporting mast, a pair of booms supported on said mast on one side thereof and mounted for relative lateral and vertical swinging, said booms diverging outwardly on one side of the axis of said mast, a flexible connecting member for said booms extending from the outer part of one boom to the outer part of the other boom, an intermediate portion of said flexible member being connected with the mast above the mounting for the booms, a-distributingchute supported adjacent t-he end of one boom, a cable connected adjacent the end of the other boom and fastened adjacent the base ofsaid mast and brace members for said mast positioned for bracing same in a direction opposite to the side of said mast carrying the booms.

Witness my hand this 19' day of August, 192?, at the city of Plainfield, county of Union, State of New Jersey.

ARTHUR P. ROBINSON. 

